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Living with untreated hearing loss is a long and often, lonely battle. Even when trying to do simple daily tasks, such as listening for the coffee maker and microwave, hearing the doorbell and telephone ring, not to mention understanding telephone conversations, hearing loss can impact every corner of a person’s lifestyle and functionality.

Starting a conversation about hearing loss is very rarely easy, especially the first time. If this is your first attempt to talk to someone about your concern for their hearing health, it probably won’t end successfully. This is not to say that you should not try however, it typically takes a person with hearing loss between five to seven years before seeking help. Don’t give up! The more conversations you have, the greater the chances a person with hearing loss will find acceptance and be ready to get the hearing help they need.

With all the sounds surrounding us daily, it’s no wonder that millions of Americans are living with moderate to severe noise-induced hearing loss. According to the American Academy of Audiology, “Approximately 40 million American adults may have hearing loss resulting from noise exposure.”

3 Things Everyone Should Know About Hearing Loss

If you do not personally experience hearing loss you cannot truly feel what it’s like to live with hearing loss. It’s challenging for a person with hearing loss to explain to friends, family and others just how difficult functioning daily with untreated hearing loss can be.

Often, the way a hearing aid appears to other people is enough to keep people with untreated hearing loss from working to find help for their hearing loss. However, what many people don’t understand is that the hearing aid industry has come a very, very long way since your grandfather wore hearing aids. If you are dealing with hearing loss, the best thing you can do is visit one an Otolaryngologist/ENT and Audiologist for a proper medical evaluation.

Picture this: You’re just sitting down after a long day of working and fulfilling obligations. As you snuggle up to your favorite indulgence, you suddenly experience an immediate loss of hearing in one ear, followed by a high pitch tone, buzzing or whooshing sound inside your ear. Sound familiar?

The hearing loss statistics in the United States and around the globe are alarming. According to the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) and National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD):

Our society has a natural way of imposing societal labels and attaching stigmas to certain circumstances, qualities and “types” of people. This static labeling can result in feelings of humiliation, embarrassment and many people ashamed and unwilling to explore a solution.

If you have hearing loss and have used hearing aids in the past you already know not all hearing aids are created equally. Hearing aids are also only a portion of the complete hearing health process. Working with an experienced and professional Audiologist and Hearing Instrument Specialist to specifically program a hearing aid to an individual person’s specific hearing loss is what brings your hearing healthcare full circle.

As with many other health issues, hearing loss is commonly linked to various additional health conditions. It is only within the last several years that hearing loss has been linked to disabling health conditions. Hearing loss creates a sort of petri-dish that cultivates the progression of other health issues. Hearing loss supports social isolation and loneliness, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, such as serious cognitive decline connected to Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, clinical depression, balance and fall issues among the older demographic, heart disease and more.